The impending liberalisation of Saudi Arabia’s telecommunications market is being seen by many of the Kingdom’s information technology players as the key to market growth. As such, they are already gearing up for a liberalised market and the lower prices and greater investment in IT it will bring. Al Faisaliah Group, for instance, is getting ready to take advantage of what it sees as a booming Saudi market as it consolidates its recent merger with Gulf Stars and ramps up activities throughout Saudi. “We see a lot of activity in the IT marketplace, but even more so in the telecom space with the [forthcoming] deregulation of the GSM and data services,” says Selman Al Fares, group IT director of Al Faisaliah Group. “This will be a catalyst for change and they will present business opportunities in themselves and there will also be opportunities caused by them. Even if the impact is limited during 2004, they will definitely be there in 2005,” he adds. To ensure it is ready to take advantage of the greater investment caused by a liberalised telecommunications market, Al Faisaliah Group has been investing in both its staff and product portfolio. “We are lining ourselves up for that area [telecommunications] and we believe we have the width and breadth and experience, and the team of people, do excel in this space,” says Al Fares. “We will leverage our capabilities and capacity to move forward with those clients and we will he successful,” he adds.